A humorous look at the companies that caught our eye, for better or worse, this week.
RITCHIE BROS. AUCTIONEERS (STAR)
Ritchie Bros.’ business is figuring out who the highest bidder is. This week, it was them: The heavy-equipment auctioneer said it was buying IronPlanet, a company that would help Ritchie Bros. build its online business and also hook it up with industry biggie Caterpillar Inc. Sometimes, companies who are the buyers in big deals see their shares drop, but investors moved earth, if not heaven, to bid up Ritchie Bros. shares.
RBA (TSX), $45.44 up $8.42 or 22.7% over week
POTASH CORP. (STAR)
Speaking of moving earth, that exercise has gotten less and less lucrative for Potash Corp. and its fellow fertilizer miners. A global supply glut has knocked prices down to levels not seen in a decade, and its shares have followed. The word this week that Potash Corp. and Agrium Inc. were talking about a merger gave investors their first good news in some time. But since both companies are already part of a co-operative Canadian cartel, will this really dig them out of their hole?
POT (TSX), $23.36 up $2.50 or 12% over week
HERSHEY CO. (DOG)
Summer is over, it’s back to school, and it’s time to clean out the minivan. That soft, brown, gooey spot on the carpet? Why, that’s the chocolate bar the kids dropped back in June and you didn’t see until now. It’s kind of symbolic of Hershey stock after Mondelez, the owner of Cadbury’s, said this week it would no longer pursue an acquisition of the candy company. The share price melted away on the news.
HSY (NYSE), $99.30 (U.S.) down $11.58 or 10.4% over week
LULULEMON ATHLETICA (DOG)
Company founder Chip Wilson said this week he’s taking a kinder approach to his criticisms of Lululemon, suggesting staff should meditate more. Reflect on this: A disappointing quarterly report sent the shares down. He says there need to be more West Coast people on the company’s board “because we are years ahead of the East Coast in terms of how we think about the relationship between mind and body.” Needed: Thought about the relationship between performance and stock price.
LULU (Nasdaq), $68.57 (U.S.) down $9.62 or 12.3% over week
H&R BLOCK (DOG)
We’re not so sure that doing your taxes is getting any easier, but it seems to be getting cheaper. Tax-preparation company H&R Block sank after reporting another disappointing quarter. H&R Block, which prepares your return for you, lost customers in the 2016 tax season, while Intuit, the maker of do-it-yourself software TurboTax, reported gains. H&R Block stock is down by more than a third this year, and shareholders shouldn’t be expecting a refund of their losses any time soon.
HRB (NYSE), $21.65 (U.S.), down $2.61 or 10.8% over week